A message from NHCLV CEO Melissa Miranda:
With this week’s change to a new electronic medical record, AthenaHealth, NHCLV has updated its Sliding Fee Discount Program as well. Most notable is that for our families most in need (living below the 100% federal poverty level) we lowered our fee to $20, recognizing that many are struggling to access services.
For example, we have negotiated with our local labs so that testing costs are affordable for our families when they obtain their labs through our health center and those costs are demonstrated through our fees. Additionally, family planning options are also much more affordable and included now in a more affordable way.
The additional percentages in Slides B through D are for any ‘extras’ an individual might obtain during a visit (such as an injection, procedure, or unusual, non-formulary, medication). A lot of what we offer at NHCLV is part of the ‘usual’ fee but we do need to charge small fees for the extras to maintain a responsible approach to our commitment as a federally qualified community health center. Even for those individuals earning more than 200% of the federal poverty levels we have done all we could to maintain an affordable fee structure.
We know the cost of living has not made accessing primary and preventive health care, behavioral health, and medication assisted substance use disorder services affordable, let alone if a person needs to access those services on a regular basis.
NHCLV remains committed to working with our community to keep our services affordable and accessible. With our new system we also offer customizable payment plans, an accessible patient portal where a patient can communicate with NHCLV to access records, ask for appointments, and update their records to prepare for their appointments. We are excited about what our new system, AthenaHealth, will be able to do for our patients and invite all of our patients to register today! Thank you.